


A Bittersweet Morning

by chalklandingplace



Series: Lesbians-of-Color Fluff Ficlets [3]
Category: No Fandom, Original Work
Genre: Baristas, Blushing, Coffee, Coffee Shop Employee, Coffee Shops, College, F/F, Flirting, Flirting with Science, Fluff, Fluff and Humor, Humor, Scientific Flirting, Slow Build, Undergraduate Student, graduate student, mutual feelings, mutual flirting, pop culture references, science humor
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-11-06
Updated: 2020-11-06
Packaged: 2021-03-08 23:08:36
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 3,818
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/27414754
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/chalklandingplace/pseuds/chalklandingplace
Summary: Suddenly, a small jingle fills the atmosphere as the café door opens and a girl walks in. Amaya quickly straightens her back and steps away from the counter to maintain a proper distance, brandishing a welcoming smile, “Good morning!”
Relationships: Original Female Character of Color/Original Female Character of Color, Original Female Character/Original Female Character, Original Lesbian Character of Color/Original Lesbian Character of Color, Original Lesbian Character/Original Lesbian Character
Series: Lesbians-of-Color Fluff Ficlets [3]
Series URL: https://archiveofourown.org/series/2002102
Kudos: 5





	A Bittersweet Morning

**Author's Note:**

  * Inspired by [Seven to Fifteen Past Seven](https://archiveofourown.org/works/23611075) by [sunflowerdust](https://archiveofourown.org/users/sunflowerdust/pseuds/sunflowerdust). 



Waking up at six in the morning every day was a pain to begin with, now that she has to wake up at six in the morning _then_ go to work, Amaya wonders if staying on campus was really worth it.

She unlocks the back door to the shop, walking in through the kitchen. After grabbing her apron off the rack, she fixes it around her waist, drops her phone in the pocket, and clips on her name tag. Then she flips on the café lights and takes her place behind the counter. After a moment, she stretches, yawning as she takes a quick glance at the clock.

_7:03_

Amaya sighs loudly enough for it to echo throughout the room—luckily no one is around to hear it. Each and every day Amaya ends up being completely alone in the café from 7:00 to 7:15 a.m. because her co-workers are consistently late. She taps away on the register, testing each key to make sure it works properly. She glances at the clock again.

_7:05_

Suddenly, a small jingle fills the atmosphere as the café door opens and a girl walks in. Amaya quickly straightens her back and steps away from the counter to maintain a proper distance, brandishing a welcoming smile, “Good morning!”

“Hmm.” The girl comes to stand in front of the counter, her eyes glued to her phone.  
Amaya has to momentarily push down her urge to stuff her hand in her apron pocket, take out her phone and snap a photo of the girl in front of her.

She has long micro braids, tied into a high ponytail, only leaving one that’s tucked behind her ear. Her face looks as if it was sculpted by the Gods with strong cheekbones and a sharp jawline. She’s wearing a pale green tee-shirt, with a bomber jacket and a pair of acid-washed jeans. Amaya is busy taking in the new hot girl’s appearance when the girl suddenly looks up from her phone and their eyes meet.

Looking up at Amaya straightened her posture which makes Amaya realize how tall this girl actually is. She takes in her appearance up close for a moment. The girl’s eyes shine like topaz; the kind of golden brown that will captivate anyone’s attention. Not only that, the pair of thin-framed glasses that sat perfectly at the edge of her nose made her look even _hotter_.

“Uh, what’s up?” her voice fills the café. _Oh god, I think my knees almost gave out for a second there._

“Oh, uh, nothing!” Amaya stutters, fumbling for something to do. She bumps the cash register, “So what would you like to order?” The girl smirks. _Goddamn_.

“Black coffee”, she replies. Then turns her attention back to her phone.

“Okay, and what size would you like that?” Amaya rings up the drink in the system, trying not to look into her eyes again.

“Medium.” The girl says, looking intently at the cashier as if trying to meet her eyes again.

“Alright.” Amaya nods and decides to look up this time to meet the amber eyes. “Would you like anything else with your coffee?” The girl smirks softly and shakes her head. Amaya can’t help but smile back as they maintain eye contact for just a moment. The barista is first to break, she moves to the coffee machine to start making the drink. The girl huffs playfully and taps the counter aimlessly as she walks away. Amaya peeks around the machine and watches as she drops the backpack slung over her shoulder onto the floor and takes a seat at a table adjacent to the far side of the counter. It sits right in front of the window where her brown skin radiates under the morning sun beaming through the glass. She scrolls through her phone again, now expressionless. _I wonder what she’s thinking about. It’s kind of hard to read her._ “So, you’re one of those weird people who like black coffee, huh?” Amaya jokes, hoping to start up a conversation with the girl. She scoffs, feigning offense. She flips her phone over and lays it on the table, giving Amaya her full attention.

“It’s good!” The girl yawns, stretching. Amaya stops in her traces and lets out a muffled squeal. _Even when she yawns, she’s fine as hell._ “Keeps me awake,” she continues.

“I’d be wide awake too if I had to drink liquid sadness.” The girl lets out a small laugh and Amaya feels her heart skip a beat.

“Wow, rude. How do you work at a coffee shop with such disdain for black coffee? That makes zero sense.” The girl protests. Amaya giggles, pressing the button that dispenses coffee in the cup she just planted under the spout.

“I just prefer the sugary, sweet coffee drinks with a ton of flavor syrup!”

“Of course, you look like you’d enjoy that crap.” The girl snickers. Amaya gasps dramatically, putting a hand over her chest.

“What is that supposed to mean?”

“You just look...sweet...so of course you’d like sweet drinks.” The girl mumbles, shrugging lightly. Amaya feels her cheeks warm up. She can’t fight the smile that creeps across her face.

“Oh, so I look ‘sweet’ to you? That’s a sweet thing to say for someone with such bitter tastes.” She chuckles at her own joke; the other girl just rolls her eyes playfully. Amaya puts a cap on the coffee and moves down the counter to deliver it.

“Hahaha, very funny.” The girl mocks, gently taking the coffee from Amaya’s hand. Their eyes meet again, they linger for a second. Amaya makes her way back to the coffee machine to clean out the coffee grounds. She watches the girl out of the corner of her eye as she slowly sips her coffee and looks out the window.

“You look like a university student; do you go to Towson?” Amaya asks. The girl hums affirmatively through the sip she just so happened to be taking. Amaya nods in understanding. “That’s cool, what are you majoring in?”

“Forensic science, specifically chemistry.” Slides her frames up the bridge of her nose with one finger.

“What, you want to be Abby from NCIS?” Amaya asks half-jokingly. The girl nods. _Holy shit. She’s literally a hot nerd scientist._ “Seriously? That’s literally awesome!” The girl chuckles.

“Yeah, I guess so.” Amaya finishes cleaning the machine and moves to the end of the counter.

“She’s my favorite character from that show. Like, that’s honestly so cool. What made you want to do that?” The girl shrugs, looking at the barista for her reaction. She tries to hide her smirk behind her coffee as she drinks it. Amaya rolls her eyes just to humor her.

“I want justice for the dead.” She replies. Amaya can’t help but admire her words for a moment.

“Wow, you’re so virtuous.” She finally responds. The girl shrugs again, smiling. “Which year are you in?” Amaya asks, really curious. It’s not every day a hot girl who’s around the same age as she walks into the café and tells her she wants to make the world a better place.

“First-year graduate,” the girl replies, sipping her coffee. Amaya’s jaw drops. _A graduate student? As in getting a master’s degree???_

“I really thought you were an undergrad student!” Amaya confesses. The girl chuckles softly.

“I get that a lot.” she admits, “Are you a university student too?” Amaya nods.

“I’m a fourth-year physics and engineering major at Johns Hopkins.” She responds, the girl smirks.

“Damn, Bob the Builder! I’ll have to call you the next time I need someone to put together my Ikea furniture.” Amaya scoffs in joking annoyance as the girl burst out laughing. She laughs a little longer than expected which makes Amaya cross her arm over her chest and pout. She’s dramatically looking away when the girl suddenly leans close to her over the counter. She lightly grabs Amaya’s wrist, moving it aside so she can read the obscured nametag on her chest.

“Amaya.” She reads aloud as she settles back into her chair. She smiles, “I like that name.”

“Oh really?” Amaya says, stepping away to check the fridge under the counter for no reason before the girl can notice the blush forming on her cheeks again, “What’s your name?”

“Hmm.” The girl hums as she tries to peer over the counter to see what Amaya is doing so suddenly. Eventually, she responds, “I’m Jasmine but I go by Jazz.”

“You know, my parents never let me listen to classical or jazz music growing up. Too much sax and violins.” Amaya says, barely able to finish the joke from laughing at Jazz’s displeased face. Jazz facepalms, groaning aloud but then chuckles at the fact it was still a clever joke.

“That was so cheesy, but I have to give you credit for creativity. I certainly have never heard that one before. Usually, people are like ‘’I bet you like Jazz music!’” She dramatically takes a quick sip of coffee, as if it were a shot of liquor. Amaya bows, pretending to wave to an adoring audience as they clap for her performance. Jazz smiles, looking down at her coffee.

“You’re new here, aren’t you?” she says, looking up.

“No, actually, I’ve been here for a while,” Amaya responds. “I guess we just haven’t crossed paths until today.” Jazz chuckles.

“Hm, I wouldn't say that's exactly true.”

“What makes you say that? Are you a profiler too?” Amaya cocks her head to the side, really inspecting the girl. Jazz straightens up in her chair, cracking her knuckles.

“Not exactly but there are some telltale signs you’ve only been here maybe...a few weeks to a month at most? I certainly wouldn't say 'a while.'” Amaya huffs, surprised, then crosses her arms, and smirks.

“And what makes you say that?” 

“Well for starters, you’re a senior physics and engineering major which means you didn’t have the time to work a part-time job until the start of this year since your heaviest course loads are now behind you. Next, your apron is still very creased as if it was just removed from the package not too long ago and it’s too clean to belong to an experienced barista. But also, you’re the only person working in the café at this hour which means you opened, and management wouldn’t let someone who only _just_ started working here open the shop by herself. Lastly, I’ve never seen you around before despite coming here at different times each day over the last few months. Statistically, I would’ve run into you by this point regardless of your normal shift if you had been here for a while.” Amaya smacks the counter then points at Jazz.

“Ding, ding, ding: It seems you’ve caught your unsub, Dr. Reid!” She grins wide, clapping. “I just started a few weeks ago and I only work in the mornings.” Jazz grins back, feeling accomplished.

“No wonder I never saw you, I rarely come in the mornings. Today I just so happen to have a ‘for-sci’ practicum.” Jazz replies. Amaya leans against the counter, propping her head up with her elbows and resting her chin in her hands.

“Whoa, how does that work?” She now meets Jazz’s gaze from the same eye level making it much easier to see her golden eyes.

“Well, usually there’s a mock crime scene with a cadaver. Sometimes it’s a car crash or a homicide or a suicide. Then, I have to go in and collect, analyze, and document the evidence I find. That way, I can piece together the crime or just explain what happened to the victim.” She responds, pushes her frames up the bridge of her nose. She maintains eye contact with Amaya, who just can’t get a read on her. “The body is often decayed when we get there so it’s difficult to identify them by facial features. In those cases, we have to extract DNA to compare it to our database. Sometimes, I have to pull teeth to compare dental records or do an autopsy.” Amaya’s eyes widen and her mouth gapes open.

“So, you really _are_ Abby from NCIS! How can you do all that without getting sick? I’m a little squeamish so I don’t think I could just cut up a dead body like that. Plus, the smell? I think I’d hurl or pass out—or both.” Jazz snorts as she sips her coffee.

“I don’t eat anything before I have to interact with them.” She responds, Amaya nearly facepalms. _Duh!_

“No wonder you didn’t order anything but a coffee. At first, I was so heartbroken that you didn’t want any of my delicious sweets.” Amaya clutches her chest dramatically. Jazz groans, rolling her eyes. “Anyway, that seems so hard! I’m sure you spend countless hours studying every physical science under the sun for that degree; do you enjoy it?” Amaya continues, just wanting to keep the conversation going. She needs to learn as much as she can about this beautiful being that stumbled into _her_ café of all the coffee shops around here, is chatting _her_ up over a coffee, and is laughing at _her_ silly antics first thing in the morning.

“Of course, I wouldn’t change it for the world.” She smiles softly as she swirls her remaining bit of coffee in the cup. It’s definitely the most genuine smile Amaya has seen from anyone—ever. _Oh my god, I think would die for that smile._ Her heart nearly jumps out of her chest which is almost audible since they both fall silent again. Suddenly, Jazz turns to fully face Amaya as she leans against the counter.

“So, tell me, Archimedes, what about being a senior physics and engineering major floats your boat?” She bursts out laughing, Amaya rolls her eyes but can’t help laughing along with her. _Damn, that was ingenious._ “But seriously, I’m curious to know what you want to do with your degree.”

“Is that so?” Amaya asks, very amused. Jazz had tried to start the conversation first this time which means she’d succeeded in presenting herself interesting enough for the girl. Jazz nods in response. “Well, I want to be a physics professor.” Jazz grins wide as if she knew the answer all along. Amaya doubts if her heart will be able to take any more of this, she might actually die from this cuteness.

“What are you cheesing for?” Amaya smiles back at her, “You know something I don’t?”

“As I said earlier, you seem so sweet. It makes sense you’d want to be a teacher.” Jazz hums and drinks another small sip of her coffee, then shifts her gaze back to Amaya, “You love knowledge and want to help people learn, don’t you?”

“Yeah, you definitely figured me out,” Amaya shakes her head in mock disappointment, “Guess it’s obvious.”

“Not at all. You’re actually complex. I could tell you loved science since before you even became a STEM major in college just from all the references we’ve been making. Just some random physicist wouldn’t care to understand the psychology behind profiling so they probably wouldn’t make a Criminal Minds or NCIS reference, but you did because you find that stuff interesting, right?” Amaya nods. “And your love of that science made you want to pursue a path that allows you to guide others to learn and enjoy science like you do, no?” Amaya nods again. “Exactly, that’s only natural for a people person.”

“How can you tell I’m a people person?” Amaya inquires.

“Well, you’ve been trying to make conversation with me since I walked in here despite being a total stranger and the only two people in the café. You could’ve served me a coffee and let me be, but you didn’t. Instead, you coaxed me to converse with you by asking about myself until I naturally decided to keep the conversation going too.”

“Okay, but what if I was trying to be friendly because that's my job?”

“That could be true, but I can tell by your movements, the way your breathing changes, how you laugh, even how much eye contact we’ve been making that I’m not just a patron to you.” Amaya rolls her eyes, trying to keep the blush from forming on her cheeks.

“I hate profilers. Do you know that?” She sneers, sticking her tongue out. Jazz laughs as she takes another sip.

“I love Derek and Garcia’s relationship!” Amaya grins that she got the reference. “But if it makes you feel better, I only learned how to read people because of my forensic background so I could figure that out solely because I know what I’m looking at and can use it to put together your profile in my head.”

“So, you just walk around profiling people?” Amaya asks slyly.

“Nah, I only analyze interesting people. If they’re too simple, it’s too easy and gets boring, you know?” She leans back in her chair, intertwining her fingers behind her head. Amaya sits up, placing her hands on her hips as she watches Jazz pretend to boast.

“Ah, so Miss Smooth Jazz finds me interesting.” Amaya beams, “I knew I was fascinating to you.” Jazz raises an eyebrow.

“Uh-huh, how’d you come to that conclusion?”

“You seem to think I made you participate in our conversation, but you decided of your own free will to continue conversing with me. You could’ve sat in silence on the phone and drank your coffee but you both responded to my questions with open-ended answers, knowing I would follow up with another question and even asked me questions of your own.”

“Well, what if I was trying to be friendly?” She replies mockingly. Amaya taps her temple and snickers.

“That’s where your argument really fails. I work here, so I can’t leave but you can leave at any time after you got your coffee. Even if you wanted to stay and drink it, you could’ve finished it a long time ago. But you’ve been taking smaller sips less frequently ever since we really started talking.” Jazz rolls her eyes and downs the last bit of the coffee. Amaya grabs the empty cup from her hand and tosses it in the trash beside the counter. “That tells me you had been nursing that coffee, even though it’s been probably cold for a while now, for as long as possible because you just wanted a reason to stay longer and talk with me.” Jazz frowns slightly, then smirks.

“Okay, you got me.” She confesses, “Who knew Bob the Builder could psychoanalyze strangers,” she chuckles, looking back at the barista. Amaya’s stomach nearly flips when their eyes meet again, but she manages to mostly keep her composure. _I swear she can see right through me with that look._ “That mind with good interpersonal skills, you could be an evil genius hellbent on building a weapon of mass destruction for power.” Amaya puts her fists on her hips and lets out a maniacal laugh. “You wouldn’t get very far without my chemistry though.” Jazz scoffs.

“Ha! You think? I’ll keep that in mind when I build it without you, Madame Curie.” Amaya giggles, knowing she’s just getting under Jazz’s skin at this point. Who could deny how much fun it was to mess with her though?

“You just have a comeback for everything, don’t you?” Jazz grumbles, smirking.

“If I didn’t, I wouldn’t have been interesting to you. And what was that about boring people?” Amaya studies her nails, wiping them off on her collarbone like a diva. Jazz bursts into laughter.

“Okay, this has honestly been the best conversation I’ve had in a long time,” she starts. She pauses for a moment then looks up at Amaya. “Plus, I was able to make you laugh so I think today is going to be a good day.” She smiles ever so slightly; which Amaya immediately picks upon. _That’s it, that’s the one that will kill me!_ She snatches a notepad off the counter to hide her face as she blushes.

“Don’t forget, you still have a practicum to get through.” Amaya pumps a fist in the air, still hiding behind the notepad. She hears Jazz chuckle, then something grabs her arm and moves it away from her face. Jazz is now standing across the counter, looking deeply into Amaya’s eyes. The warmth of her amber eyes makes the barista feel like she’s melting in a pool of honey. _I guess this is how I die._ And for a moment, the two don’t say anything.

“I don’t mean to stare. I just wanted to get a good look at you...so I’ll know exactly which coffee shop barista I have to find when I need help building my next LEGO set.” Jazz snickers, sticking her tongue out at the barista playfully. Amaya responds the same way and playfully shoves Jazz from across the counter.

“Oh my god, you’re the worst!” Amaya groans. Jazz jokingly stumbles, pretending to wince in pain. They both face the door when the bell jingles loudly as someone rushes into the café.

“Sorry, I’m late.” Daija hurries into the shop, panting as she moves behind the counter, “I overslept again.”

“No big deal.” Amaya smiles as she takes another glance at the clock.

_7:25_

_It’s already been twenty minutes? _Daija’s ten minutes later than usual. Not that Amaya is complaining since she got extra time to talk alone with the gorgeous not-so-much-a-stranger-anymore. Jazz checks her wristwatch and grabs her backpack off the floor. “Alright,” she takes her wallet out and pays the bill, “Thanks for the coffee Da Vinci, it was ‘magnifico.’” She gestures a chef’s kiss and chuckles.__

__“You’re welcome,” Amaya places her hand over her heart in appreciation. “And you better ace that practicum, Maples, or I’ll make you right at home alongside those cadavers.” Jazz gasps playfully then laughs._ _

__“I promise I’ll do my best!” She says, raising a thumbs up with her free hand. She walks over to the door, turning back for a moment._ _

__“Until next time, my dear Watson?” Amaya declares. She waves gently from across the room._ _

__“Bold of you to assume you’d be Sherlock.” Jazz chuckles, briefly waving back, “But until next time, sir.” She says in her best attempt at a British accent, bowing formally. She stands back, smiling softly as her golden eyes fall onto Amaya’s profile for just a second before heading out of the café._ _

__“Who was that?” Daija asks, once Jazz is out of the door and completely out of the sight, “That’s rare. I’ve never seen anyone come here this early. Even the first customer usually shows up around 7:45.”_ _

__“She _is_ rare,” Amaya smiles at her coworker, then gazes out the window, “But something tells me we’ll be seeing her more often.”_ _

**Author's Note:**

> Check out the other ficlets/short stories in this series for more lesbian-of-color fluff!
> 
> [I know this is lengthier than the rest of my usual ficlets/short stories but after reading the inspiration work, I really wanted to write about smart women of color flirting with each other at a coffee shop using their knowledge. Or course, doing that made this much longer than I anticipated because I wanted to flesh out their dialogue so it flowed naturally.]
> 
> Links in case you didn’t understand any of the pop culture/science references!  
> \- **Abby [Sciuto] (NCIS):** https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Abby_Sciuto  
> \- **Bob the Builder (Bob the Builder):** https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bob_the_Builder_(character)  
> \- **Building Ikea furniture joke:** https://www.transformingthenation.com.au/why-is-ikea-furniture-so-hard-to-assemble/  
> \- **“Unsub” (Criminal Minds):** https://criminalminds.fandom.com/wiki/Unsub  
> \- **Dr. [Spencer] Reid (Criminal Minds):** https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Spencer_Reid  
> \- **Archimedes:** https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Archimedes#On_Floating_Bodies  
> \- **“I hate profilers. Do you know that?” (Criminal Minds):** https://www.quotes.net/mquote/710219  
> \- **[Penelope] Garcia and Derek [Morgan]’s relationship (Criminal Minds):** https://www.looper.com/203168/the-truth-about-penelope-garcia-and-derek-morgans-relationship-on-criminal-minds/  
> \- **Madame [Marie] Curie:** https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Marie_Curie  
> \- **Building LEGO sets joke:** https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Lego  
> \- **[Leonardo] Da Vinci:** https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Science_and_inventions_of_Leonardo_da_Vinci  
> \- **[William R.] Maples:** https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/William_R._Maples  
> \- **[Dr. John] Watson:** https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Dr._Watson  
> \- **Sherlock [Holmes]:** https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sherlock_Holmes
> 
> Please leave comments if you have ideas of scenarios I should write about next! Keep in mind I'm a shortttttt fiction writer (except for rare stories like this), so I'll do my best but ficlets are my forté.


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